I’ve spent the past few years living in small towns that pride themselves on special festivals which put them on the map. The first, Durango, CO is actually a tourist destination, so it doesn’t rely on its biggest festival, Snowdown, to make its name known. My current town, Independence, KS, does rely on the festival of Neewollah (Halloween spelled backwards) to make the town grow from 10,000 to 75,000 over the course of the festival.

Yesterday, as we watched the Do Dah Parade (a parade that is supposed to be for adult participants only—kids can watch) I couldn’t help but reflect back on the Snowdown parade to compare and contrast. Now the comparison isn’t completely equal, in that I should probably wait for Neewollah’s Grand Parade, but because of the adult-ish-ness of the two parades, I can’t help but do this. Actually, I think I’ll compare and contrast the festivals as a whole. I think the results might surprise you:

Neewollah

Snowdown

Lots of family friendly entertainment

A few family friendly events, but mostly adult oriented and involving alcohol

Parade costumes based on a theme, and usually including as much revealing of flesh as possible

Candy, candy, candy

Candy, candy, candy

Parade starts with a single firework, but its daytime so you can’t see it

Parade starts with a single firework after the sun has gone down.

Held in October, so it’s cold but not freezing.

Held in February, so it’s bone-chilling cold.

Some interesting parade floats—my favorite being the deer driving with a dead hunter strapped to the hood.

Some interesting floats, but, depending on the theme they can become redundant. I always loved the hot air balloons that allowed for a blast of warmth on a cold winter night

A fair full of rides and fair food

Multiple events all around town, but not all family friendly.

Budweiser float.

Coors light sponsorship

Queen Neelah competition

Spelling Bees and other competitions, many snow based competitions

Community musical

Snowdown Follies

I’m sure I can make this list expand as the days continue. I do find it interesting that Neewollah seems more family friendly, but I’m not attending every event, and I didn’t do that for Snowdown either.